Sunday, May 3, 2015

First Bike Ride to Work

The day came, and I was so excited I skipped out of the house at 6 AM, with a couple of cups of coffee in me, and my bags all packed with my work clothes, dry shampoo, sunblock (for the ride home!), and my bike lock.

The weather was absolutely perfect. I listened to a couple of Swedish podcasts on the way to work, and there was barely anyone on the bike path (or the roads!) that early.

The ride to work was 9.7 miles, with a gain of elevation of 334 feet. Because Penelope is not a fast or strong bicycle, and I am not a particularly fast or strong biker at this point, and because she has a meager 3 speeds, I had to walk many of the hills on the way to work. The part of the ride that is on the bike path is pretty much flat, but work is way up on top of the hill.

Still, I was on time for work, and even had plenty of time to change into my work clothes and freshen up. The dry shampoo was not needed, even. It took me 1 hr 17 minutes.

I was so happy all day at work (I mean, I'm always happy at work, but it gave me a little extra bounce in my step), and when the time came to ride home, I was excited. The day had only gotten more glorious.

Seriously... this as my commute? Yes, please!

I took a slightly longer route home, but less hilly. It was 10.6 miles, and only 113 ft elevation gain. It took me 1 hr 22 minutes. This makes me think that I should time the nicer route to work (since it is much prettier, putting me on the bike path for pretty much the whole trip).

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

I was not even that tired when I got home. I stayed up and watched a movie with my sweet husband, and didn't fall asleep unceremoniously in the middle of it like I often do.

Though it meant leaving much earlier than I normally would, I would love to bike to work more. I also want to experiment with biking up to the road and catching the bus, to see how reliable and fast that is. There is no bus near my house, so I still have to bike about 3-4 miles to get there. But, I could take the bus to work (when I am in a hurry), and then bike home (when I'm not as much).

The only problem was that I normally pick up groceries before coming home from work, and there was a limit to the amount and kind of things I could bring on my bike. Space was at a premium, but I also could not bring anything frozen or really even refrigerated. I was able to fit a bottle of wine, though. Bonus.

Overall, I cannot wait to do more bike commuting. It's a long trip, but worth it!